Season LizMo
by blackened raven wings
Summary: What would have happened if, after To Live and Let Diorama, Rory had gone home alone? What if a common music interest brought them together again? This is the way Flash Foreward and I would have written it. Literati!
1. Epidsode 1, Part 1

Chapter 1

Rory fell through the door. She was definitely feeling the effects of

the Founder's Day punch. Picking herself up off the floor of the

entrance way, she closed the door.

"OK, defiantly no more punch." She slurred. Stumbling around, aiming

for the kitchen doorway, which would then lead towards her room.

Stumbling into the kitchen, she froze. Holding onto the frame, she

looked at her kitchen. "I must be much drunker then I originally thought

Er, does alcohol makes you hallucinate." She mumbled to herself.

"What are you doing here? How did you get in my kitchen?" Rory asked,

still frozen in shock. She stood up as straight as she possibly could,

trying to look dignified, despite her messed up hair and rumpled

clothing.

Logan looked at her, his eyes shining with hope and apprehension. "I'm

sorry. I just can't do this...this thing with us anymore." He looked

down at the floor, missing the look of hurt and shame crossing Rory's

face. She was near tears, but wouldn't let him see that.

"I can't do casual anymore. Not with you. I can't stand the thought of

someone else's hands on you. It kills me to think of you with someone

else." His eyes shone with honesty, and Rory had no idea what to do.

Thinking of everything, making the lists in her head, was too much.

Somehow, during his mini-speech, he had made his way towards her, and he

was a mere 3 inches from her. Looking at him, her head exploded with

possibilities.

"I need to think. This is...too much to handle." She walked into her

room, suddenly much more sober. Falling onto her bed, she called out to

the stunned Logan, "I'll call you."

Logan watched her walking away, and prayed to whoever could hear him

that he hadn't scared her away. She was the best thing that had happened

to him, and he didn't want to loose that.

Rory didn't sit up until Logan was gone, but when she saw the empty

kitchen, she instantly regretted not calling him back. She cursed her

drink fogged brain for messing with her judgment. Wasn't she the one who

had been complaining about the 'casual thing' only a few hours earlier?

She tried to focus, thinking that maybe mind power would bring Logan

back. But it was only wishful thinking (or drunken thinking, she couldn't

decide). She lay back down, forgetting entirely about water and

aspirin, and waited for the alcohol induced sleep to consume her. It didn't.

She sat up again and looked around her room, trying to think of which

book would put her to sleep the fastest. Her eyes fell on Oliver Twist.

She picked it up and flicked it open to a random page before laying

back to read. Through the haze in her mind, one at a time jumped off the

page towards her until her eyes rested on 'Dodger.' She slammed the book

shut and tossed it aside.

"Damn word associ... word asso... damn Dodger," she mumbled, sleepily,

as the long awaited rest finally decided to catch up with her.

Rory woke up rested and rejuvenated. In other words she was groggy and

had a splitting headache.

"Damn punch," she mumbled, slowly pushing herself into a sitting

position, her eyes still closed. A sharp knocking came at her door.

"C'mon, sweetie, Luke made breakfast." It was Lorelai, cheery as

always, and she kept knocking even after she finished speaking.

"No knocking," Rory said. "And no talking." She finally pried her eyes

open, squinting at the sun that filtered through her curtains. Her eyes

fell on her mother, who had finally stopped knocking. She was leaning

against the door frame with her arms crossed over her chest, and a

worried expression on her face.

"Too much punch?" she asked.

"Too much punch," Rory agreed. The scent of pancakes reached Rory's

nostrils, which would have been fine except for the scent of bacon that

followed it. Lorelai swore she watched her daughter visibly turn green.

"Luke, coffee, now," Lorelai called as she turned and headed into the

kitchen. She returned a few moments later with a mug of coffee, a glass

of water, and a bottle of aspirin wedged between her elbow and her

side. She set the coffee down and handed Rory the water and aspirin.

"Thanks," Rory said as Lorelai left. Rory took the pill and had started

to slowly sip the water when Lorelai returned with a plate of plain

pancakes.

"Starch," Lorelai announced, setting the plate down next to the coffee.

Rory smiled at her mother, and Lorelai smiled back before leaving. When

Rory finished her water, she started in on the pancakes and coffee.

Rory wasn't good at thinking on the spot, she relied heavily on pro-con

lists, and lots of time to think. When Lorelai and Luke had left, she

had grabbed a pad of paper and sat down at the table. She wrote 'Dodger'

at the top of one page and 'Logan' at the top of another. She stopped

and stared at her writing on the yellow paper of the legal pad.

"This is silly," she said. Sighing, she closed the pad and returned to

her room. She grabbed The Rules of Attraction from her bedside table

and headed to the living room. She curled up on the couch, her nose in

the book, hoping it would take her mind off of everything the founders

punch had put in there.


	2. Epy 1, Part 2

Chapter Two

Jess Mariano felt stupid. Living in California had not been part of his future. Rory was his future. He was in New York when he realized what he had to do. So he called his dad and arranged for everything to be sent over to Stars Hollow.

Five days after arriving on the east coast, Jess jumped into his car and started on the trip to take him to the place he now thought of as home.

It was late when Jess arrived in Star's Hollow. Getting out of his car, he grabbed some duffel bags and headed towards the old diner. Once he got closer, he saw that no one but his Uncle was in the large eatery.

He walked in and dropped his bags heavily on the floor. Seeing that his did not get a reaction, he smirked and did the one thing he knew he could irritate him with without saying a word. He slammed the door.

"Seat yourself, and please do not slam the-" looking up, the older man had a look of shock across his features.

"I hated California. Way too hot." Jess knew Luke would get the hint, his reaction was what he needed to know about.

"Well, maybe if you took that stupid leather jacket of you would cool down!" Jess understood the acceptance written into his Uncle's smirk, and made his way towards the apartment off of a nod from the flannel clad man.

Luke closed up the Diner shortly after Jess had gone upstairs. He debated calling Lorelai about Jess, but decided against it. It would only make her worry about Rory, and since Rory was at school most of the time, worrying Lorelai seemed pointless.

Jess was sitting on the floor reading when Luke entered the apartment. He chuckled as he walked over to the refrigerator. When he opened it, he sighed. He stared at the two plastic cups full of Founder's Day Punch that Patty had convinced him to take. Actually, Lorelai had convinced him to take them by telling Patty he would.

"Hey, Jess, you want a drink?" Luke asked. Jess looked up from his book.

"Depends, am I drinking a health shake?" Jess asked. Luke grabbed the two cups and shut the refrigerator door.

"Nope, worse." Luke set the cups down on the table and sat down. Jess had returned to the book he was reading and didn't look up as he responded.

"What's worse than a health shake?" he asked.

"Founder's Day Punch," Luke said. Jess stared at the cups sitting on the table before standing and walking over to the table. He lifted one of the cups and stared down into the red liquid. He sniffed it and a look of disgust crossed his face.

"People drink this?" he asked. Luke took a sip from his own cup and forced his face to remain neutral.

"Yep."

"Who made it?"

"Patty."

"Again: People drink this?" this time, Luke didn't answer. He just sipped the drink, putting the smallest amount of liquid possible in his mouth with each sip. Jess shrugged and took a gulp from his cup. His face contorted in disgust as he swallowed and Luke smirked. Jess shot him a look and pushed the cup across the table.

"What?" Luke asked, a hint of laughter in his voice. He looked from the cup to his nephew.

"You drink it, I'm having a beer," Jess said. He set his book down, walked over to the fridge, and grabbed a beer.

"Get me one, too," Luke said. "I'll need it to wash this crap down."

Apparently beer on top of Founder's Day Punch was worse than Founder's Day Punch on top of Founder's Day Punch.

Jess was on his third beer, while Luke was still on his second. Luke, however, was a little worse for wear. The second cup of Founder's Day Punch had probably been a bad idea. Jess, still semi-lucid, had figured out that Luke would babble answers to whatever questions he was asked.

"So, Dean got married?" Jess asked. Luke nodded as he got up to get a third beer.

"Didn't last long," Luke said.

"Well, yeah. They're too young." Jess said, but Luke shook his head while taking a swig.

"Not the reason," he said. He took another swig as Jess gave him a sideways glance. "He cheated."

"Uh, huh," Jess had started in on his book. Interrogating his tipsy uncle had been fun at first, but it was started to get old.

"Yep," Luke continued, not noticing Jess's lack of interest. "With

Rory."

Jess chocked on his beer. The liquid sprayed from his mouth, covering his book, the table, and Luke.

"What?" he asked, but Luke had tried to stand up to avoid the spray and had tripped over the leg of the chair. He was sprawled out on the floor, and would be giving no answers.

Luke had been with Lorelai all day, and Jess was glad. He hadn't left the apartment since he woke up to the smell of Luke making some odd concoction in the blender. He spent the time reading and thinking, wondering how Rory would take the news that he was back in town.

Jess sighed as he tossed his now finished book aside and turned on the TV. He wasn't feeling very well, a hangover mixed with the smell of whatever Luke had made had done him in. The phone rang.

"Hello?" Jess said, hoping he sounded as annoyed as he felt.

"Jess?"

"Who is this."

"Uh, what? Oh this is Lane. Is Luke there?"

"No, what's up?"

"Um, nothing." Lane hung up. Jess looked at the phone for a second before shaking his head and hanging it up. He returned his attention to the TV.

Luke glanced over at Lorelai, trying to decide when the best time to tell her about Jess would be. She was bobbin along to the music, some new CD that she had forced Luke to play. Not that it took much forcing.

_When Rory's back at school,_ he thought as he turned his eyes back to the

road.

She'd be heading back to school the next day, so Luke didn't see how

any problems could arise.

"Wait, pull over here," Lorelai said, interrupting his thoughts. "They

have the best chili dogs."

"We're going to dinner," Luke said.

"I know, but I want a chili dog."

Luke pulled over.


	3. Epy 1, Part 3

you're better at conversation then I am so whenever you see ©©© that, you write the conversation, cuz mine suck! Lol

A week later, Jess sat in the diner. News of him being in town had spread pretty quickly. Rory still didn't know he was here, but everyone else sure did. The chattering around the town was virtually non-stop.

Jess was in his room at Luke's apartment, getting ready to go to see one of his favorite bands playing, Three Days Grace. It helped that Hep Alien was opening for them, and so he could claim to be supporting the town when Luke started to rant about bad music.

Putting the finishing touches on the gelled spikes he wore as a teen, he grabbed his keys and headed to the concert.

Logan walked to Rory's door. Looking at his watch, he saw that it read 5:55. He was still 5 minutes early, and he couldn't be early to pick her up.He was excited, but was trying his best to hide it. This was their first date as an official couple. His first exclusive relationship. They were going to a concert that Rory's best friend was opening in, and Rory had been excited for weeks about it. They got to go back stage and everything, and even meet the band that Hep Alien was opening for, Three Days Grace. He had never heard of them, but Rory apparently loved them.

After checking his watch and seeing he was now 5 minutes late, which he thought was good enough, he approached Rory's door. Upon arriving at Rory's dorm, he could hear muffled yelling and then a loud thump.

"Well, that's never good..." Knocking loudly, he heard an invitation in, so he opened the door to a most amusing sight.

Rory had been running around, picking out what to wear on her fits official date with Logan when Paris had stopped her to talk about a YDN article. After 10 minutes of talk, Rory checked the time and screeched.

"PARIS! I have 10 minutes to do hair, makeup, and shoes!" Shooting out of the common room, Rory came out 3 minutes later with her makeup almost completely done, with only mascara and lip gloss to do. Running into the bathroom, she quickly re-curled her already curly hair and applied mascara and lip gloss. Checking her appearance in to mirror and finding it satisfactory, she ran out of the bathroom in search of shoes. As she passed Paris' room, she saw Paris holding her favorite shoes, which would have looked great with her outfit of jeans and a black stylish T-Shirt with the logo for Hep Alien on the front and Three Days Grace on the back.

"Paris, give me my shoes! I need them for tonight." Rory walked into the room, holding her hand out.

"Why? so you can look all pretty for Huntzburger?" Paris said teasingly, holding the shoes just out of reach.

"Paris, give me my shoes!"

"No, I think I'll wear them tonight!"

"AH!" with that, Rory ran after Paris, who quickly dodged into the common room.

"Jesus Gilmore!" Paris jumped over the back of the couch and ran until Rory jumped on her and pinned her to the floor. Just as Rory was about to snatch her shoes, there was a loud knock on the door. Neither wanting to get up and leave a weak spot for the "enemy" to use, they yelled " Come in!" in unison.

In walked Logan, who quirked an eyebrow at their interesting position. "Well, Rory, if you had the hots for Paris and not me, why didn't you just say so? I'm all for watching if you don't mind though!"

The girls look at each other and blushed. Rory snatched her shoes and got up, putting them on and tying the heels around her ankles as Paris got up and slammed the door to her room, muttering a few choice insults along the way, in both English and what Rory guessed to be Portuguese.

"Not nice Logan. Ready to go?" Rory grabbed her bag and walked towards him.

"Whenever you are, m'dear."

When Rory and Logan got there, they immediately headed towards the bar, where Finn and Collin were waiting for them with drinks all ready.

"'ello luv!" He greeted Rory with a hug and a drink. "It's a mixture I got the bar tender to let me make! You will love it!"

"Thanks Finny! I'm gonna go back stage and say hi to Lane, they are gonna start any minute, so I'll be back soon." With that, Rory walked off to say hi to her best friend.

It was an hour into the concert. Hep Alien had played already, and now a few other unknown bands were playing, so Jess made his way to the bar. Showing his ID, he got a beer and started to sip at it. The band playing was called "Healing Power" and they were not very good, so he drank a little bit more beer.

Just as Jess was about to walk around to see if he knew anyone, he saw something that interested him. A man came up to the bar and hopped over the counter and just started mixing drinks. When Jess asked the barman about hi, he said that the guy was a regular and did this everytime. He liked his drinks stronger them most and loved to make unusual concoctions, so he made them himself.

Intrigued, Jess walked over to the man and striked a conversation about the drink he was currently making.

"Hi," Jess said. "What d'you call that?"

"Hmm?" the other man seemed preoccupied with mixing, but he still responded. "Don't have a name for it yet, but it sure tastes good. Here, have one." Jess took the offered glass and smelled it.

"Strong," he said. He took a sip, and started coughing. "What's in

this?"

"My secret," he hopped back over the bar and grabbed his own glass.

"I'm Finn, by the way." Finn proffered his hand, and Jess took it.

"I'm Jess."

"Hey, I'm here with some friends and I think you all would really hit it off. Come hang with us." Finn slurred. He had had a few drinks by then, and was feeling the effects.

"Um, sure. OK. Lead the way." Jess followed Finn through the crowds of dancing people toe two blonde guys and a brunette.

"Oi, mates! Look who I picked up." The one of blondes turned around, but the brunette kept dancing with the slightly taller blonde. They grinded and were close, and Jess couldn't help but think she was gorgeous and he hadn't eve seen her face yet.

"Jess, this here's Colin the ass."

"Thanks Finn, but I think I'll introduce myself from now on. That girl from the bar disappeared and probably called the cops."

"I liked her. I thought I introduced you well."

"You made me sound like a pervert. Especially when you said Huntz's girl was like a sister to me, then proceeded to say that I wanted to bang her, which I don't. Hi, by the way. I'm Colin."

"I'm Jess."

"I see that. Logan, come one over here! Newby." Colin went back to stand by the girl because Finn had gone over and started dancing wildly with her and she was laughing, or at least Jess thought she was.

"Hey, I'm Logan."

"Jess."

"Cool. So, how do you know Finn?"

"I don't I just met him at the bar."

"Oh, well-" Logan was cut off by a very drunk Finn

"Logan, come dance with your date. It's your fits date, what's the poor girl gonna think if she has to dance with me the whole time? She might leave you for me and that would be awful for you...wait a minute what am I saying! Stay there and I'll dance with the lady!"

Laughing, the girl yelled over her shoulder to Logan, "Finn's hands are traveling Logan! Might need some help in a moment."

Jess froze. He knew that voice. Approaching the girl, he put his hand on her shoulder.

"Thank god, I thought I was gonna have to-" Turning around Rory froze.

"Rory?"

"Jess?"


	4. Epy 2, Part 1

Chapter 1

Rory stood there, shock rushing over her in waves as new questions

forced themselves into her head, begging to be answered. What was he doing

here? Why now? Was he here for her, or was this just a lucky

coincidence? Lucky, why was she thinking lucky? And why the hell was she so happy

to see him?

"Jess, what are you doing here?" She managed to stutter out.

"Wait a minute, you two know each other?" Logan was looking between the

two, shock written on his face.

"We used to date." Jess had a smirk written on his face, looking

pleased to tell the obviously rich boy.

"Yeah, until you left me without as much as a goodbye. Then you pop up

a year later." She left out the part about him telling her he loved

her, and how alone she felt when he left. No one needed to know that much.

"Well, let's not get hostile children." Colin smirked. He was

definitely enjoying the fact that a little nobody got Logan's new girl first.

Logan slipped his arm around Rory's shoulders, pulling her close to him.

"Looks to me like you might want to move along," Logan said.

"Don't see why, I'm allowed to stand here as much as you are," Jess

replied.

"Jess, please?" Rory pleaded with him. She had so many hopes for

tonight, and this was not one of them. She had no desire to watch Jess, her

ex, and Logan, her present date duke it out over where they could stand

at the concert

"Please what?" Jess was getting hostile, which usually happened when he

was hurt. Now was no exception. This was not the Rory Gilmore he loved.

This just wasn't what she would do, or who she would date.

"Please, just go."

"I thought you were sick of me going."

"She asked you to leave," Logan said, stepping between Rory and Jess.

Jess resisted the urge to punch Logan, although he had to clench his

fists tightly at his sides to do so.

"I'm not leaving until I talk to her." Jess wasn't sure what he would

say, but he had to know what had gotten into her.

"Jess," Rory pleaded as she looked at him over Logan's shoulder.

"Just find a new patch of dance floor," Logan said, smirking. He felt

that he was doing good, right before he felt Rory's hand on his shoulder

trying to force him out of the way.

"Logan, move!" she said. "Listen, why don't you go get me a drink? I

promise that Jess'll be gone by the time you get back." Logan looked from

Rory to Jess and back.

"All right," he said, giving a final glance to the half-full glass in

her hand before heading towards the bar. It was Jess's turn to smirk,

but only for a moment.

"What are you doing here?" Rory hissed.

"Seeing Three Day's Grace in concert," Jess replied.

"Right, and bothering my boyfriend didn't come up in your little plan,"

Rory couldn't explain why she was feeling so angry, maybe she was

simply mad at the thought that meeting Jess at the concert was a lucky

coincidence.

"No, it didn't. In fact, I had no idea you guys would be here."

"Hep Alien was opening! Of course I would be here!"

They stared at each other for a moment. Rory tried to sort out her

emotions, while doing her best not to focus on the passive look on Jess's

face.

"I didn't hit him," Jess said. It was all he could say.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Luke had given up on finding a time to tell Lorelai about Jess. He

figured she'd find out from Sookie, or Patty, or Taylor, or the many other

people who couldn't seem to stop talking about 'the return of the

delinquent.'

Which meant he wasn't thinking when he and Lorelai fell against his

apartment door, him fumbling with the keys while she did her best to

distract him with kisses. It wasn't until the door opened and Lorelai saw

the room that everything came tumbling down.

"What's with the extra stuff?" Lorelai asked. Luke gave a silent prayer

of thanks that Lorelai's slightly inebriated brain kept her from

putting two and two together and coming out with Jess.

"Um, look, you might want to sit down." Sitting was a bad idea,

because she almost sat on one of Jess's magazines.

"Since when were you into Punk Rock...," she trailed off, and then

stood up. "Jess is here."

"Uh," Luke couldn't form sentences, so he just let Lorelai talk, which

probably would have been the best course of action even if he could

form sentences.

"Jess is here, and you didn't tell me?" Lorelai asked. "Why didn't you

tell me, Luke? That kid broke my daughters heart!"

"I, um, I was going to tell you. Once Rory went back to school," Luke

muttered. "But then the whole town knew anyway, so I figured you knew."

"So you figured it was okay for me to find out from Sookie, or Patty,

but it never crossed your brain that I might want to hear it from you?"

"Well, I..uh, I..." Luke was at a loss. He had known that she would

hear before Rory left for school, yet he hadn't told her. He couldn't

explain it to himself, let alone her.

"I hoped that maybe you wouldn't hear about it or find out until Rory

left for school. I'm sorry." he looked down, hoping this wouldn't cause

a big fight between them.

"I'm gonna go, past my bed time," Lorelai started digging through her

purse to find her keys. A thought crossed Luke's mind.

"Did you know?" he asked. She stopped digging and looked up at him.

"Yeah, Jess showed up at the house two days after Rory went back to

school," Lorelai said. "I was waiting for you to tell me."

"I'm sorry."

She left, but she didn't look angry. Of course, Luke figured, it could

be the alcohol. Yet, it seemed more like she was tired, tired of Jess

breaking her daughter's heart. And tired of him, of Luke, messing up.

Luke sighed, he was tired of it, too.


	5. Epy 2, Part 2

Chapter 2

"I didn't hit him."

Rory stared at him for a moment, then shook her head.

"That's not the point," she said. "You just keep running away and then

showing up out of nowhere, what am I supposed to do? Wait for you every

time?"

"I never said you did."

"Yeah? Well, you sure act like I should!"

"Rory, calm down." Jess reached out a hand to touch Rory's shoulder,

but she took a sharp step back. Her eyes fixed on his, a glare set on her

pretty face.

"Jess, Rory! How'd we sound?" Lane Kim ran up to them, and only noticed

the looks on their faces when she got up close. "What's up?"

"Wait, what," Rory looked from Lane to Jess. "You knew he was here and

you didn't tell me?"

"I thought you knew! It's all over Stars Hollow that the first and only

delinquent returned."

"Thanks," Jess muttered.

"Anyway, Rory, How did we sound?"

"Great, as always," Rory said, sounding less than thrilled.

"Thanks! Oh, I'm so excited. We opened for Three Days Grace, can you

believe how awesome that is?" Lane asked. She turned to look at Jess.

"What about you, what'd you think?"

"Great," Jess said.

"All right! I'm gonna go and get a drink, 'cause playing makes you

thirsty, and I'll be right back," Lane said, before rushing off again. Jess

laughed a little, but then his look turned serious as Rory turned to

face him again.

"Dean," he said.

"What? Is he here?" Rory asked, glancing over her shoulder.

"No." His tone was sharp, clipped. "Why'd you sleep with him?"


	6. Epy 2, Part 3

Chapter 3

Rory froze. How the fuck did he find out about that? "Wha-what?" She

gaped at his smirking face.

"Dean. The jolly green giant. Why'd you sleep with him?" His face

showed anger and hurt and mock curiosity.

Rory grabbed his arm and dragged him towards the back corner where they

could talk quietly. She turned to face him and glared at him.

"Oh, there's the withering glare. You're right, that might hurt me. So

why don't you put it away and tell me the truth."

Rory laughed, but it came out as more of a bark. "The truth! That's

rich, coming from you! The truth." She paced, acting as if she was deep

in thought. "Maybe I was lonely. My dreams have changed Jess, maybe I

want to be a home wrecker now. You wouldn't know, you haven't been

around." She sneered.

Jess' eyes widened comically. That wasn't a curve ball, but Rory had

never had that tone. That "I'm better than you and I know it," tone.

Instantly, he knew its source; Logan. The new boyfriend.

"So you decided that you wanted the oaf for yourself, wife be damned

and you took him? Or did you lose it because he was the only one who

would take you? Or did you think that he'd leave his wife for you?" When

her eyes widened, he knew he'd hit the mark. "You thought he'd leave her

for you, didn't you? You thought one good lay and he'd forget her and

you would live happily ever after." He laughed. "Not all guys will leave

their girl for you, Rory. I'm one of the few."

Rory had backed herself into a corner, literally. Tears ran down her

face, and the anger was building in her eyes. "What, so now I'm not good

enough? So what if I lost my innocence to Dean? Why do you care,

anyway. You left! You gave up any right to be angry or hurt when you left me!

You made me wait Jess! A part of me will always be waiting for you to

grow up! My 17 year old self will always wait! But I'm not 17 anymore. I

have a date, someone who I'm seeing. I have a life, I'm in college. And

you expect me to just drop to my knees and apologize? My life is not up

for scrutiny."

Jess opened his mouth to protest, but Rory cut him off. "No! I saw the

way you looked at my friends. They're from society, but they are my

friends. I don't want to hear what you have to say! So just go away! Leave

me be!"

Rory pushed past him and went back to Logan. Jess watched as she cried

into his arms, and he scanned the club, obviously looking for Jess.

Quickly, Jess faded into the background, unable to escape from the sick

feeling in his gut that told him he might have just lost the one girl he

loved.

"I'm not seventeen anymore, either," he muttered to himself as he left

the club. A thought paraded into his mind, one that made it past the

anger he felt at Dean, at Logan, at Rory, and at himself. "I'll prove it,

too."

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

"Thought you were gonna be gone all night," Luke said as Jess walked

into the diner. Luke was sitting at one of the tables with his tiny TV

watching baseball, of course.

"What about you, what happened to your date?" Jess asked, but instantly

regretted it when he saw the look in Luke's eyes. He knew that if he

looked in a mirror he'd see the exact same look on his own face.

"How was the concert?" Luke asked, returning his eyes to the TV.

"It was good, Hep Alien was great and Three Days Grace...," he trailed

off. He'd left while Three Days Grace was still setting up. He had

heard the first song starting as he left he club, but he hadn't turned

back. "Three Days Grace was Three Days Grace."

"Makes sense," Luke said, taking a swig of beer.

"Can I have one?"

"No."

"Oh, so it's okay to offer me Founders Day Punch, a drink that could

probably kill me, but I can't have a beer now?"

"Just go to bed, Jess."

He did. Not a word of protest. No weird aggravated sounds. He just went

up stairs. Luke stared at the space Jess had been occupying, and

glanced at his beer. He set the bottle down and pushed it away from him.


End file.
